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That’s how the gears are changed in a DTM car

For the driver, the perfect point in time is of major importance

It’s a permanent up and down: up to 40 times per lap, a DTM driver shifts gears with the two paddles placed behind the steering wheel.

At the Norisring, the shortest circuit on the DTM calendar, only 18 gear changes are necessary per lap but at the end of the 78 lap-race, every driver will have shifted about 1332 times. And every time a driver presses one of the two paddles this results in rather complex procedures. The times of having to step on the clutch pedal and long gear linkages have been history in DTM for quite a while. We explain what happens when a driver is changing gears.

For the driver, the perfect point in time is of major importance: the perfect revs per minute for the gear change. In addition to a classic rev counter, an LED display also informs the driver on the revs his engine is running at. Should the lights switch from the green to the red area, it’s time for the driver to execute the gear shift by dint of one of the two paddles. To do so, any driver has got different preferences. Some of them prefer the right paddle for shifting up, other favour the left.